Hamilton the quickest in the free practice session

At the end of the Formula 3 Euro Series’ 60-minute free practice session at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz, Briton Lewis Hamilton (ASM F3, Dallara-Mercedes, 1:33.377 minutes) set the fastest lap time. On the wet track, Paul di Resta (Manor Motorsport, Dallara-Mercedes, 1:33.793 minutes) and Guillaume Moreau (Signature, Dallara-Opel, 1:34.068 minutes) had to settle for second and third positions respectively, behind the 20-year old who already secured this year’s drivers’ title.

Due to the rain, the 22 Formula 3 Euro Series drivers had to cope with rather difficult conditions on the EuroSpeedway’s 3.442-kilometre circuit. Hence, nearly nobody survived the session without spinning or experiencing an off-track moment here and there.

At the end of the day, Hamilton’s fastest lap time was 0.416 seconds faster than the one of second placed Paul di Resta. The McLaren-Mercedes protégé had also been the quickest in the 60-minute test session held directly prior to the free practice session, with Guillaume Moreau finishing second. In the closing minute of the practice session, Scotsman di Resta and Zandvoort winner Moreau succeeded in passing Adrian Sutil (ASM F3, Dallara-Mercedes, 1:34,097 min) who had held second position for quite a while. Fabio Carbone (Signature, SLC R1-Opel, 1:34,658 min) also made it to the top ten. The only driver of a chassis that wasn’t designed by Dallara took ninth place. Italy’s Newcomer Paolo Montin (Ombra Racing, Dallara-Honda, 1:38,592 min) had to settle for 22nd position, in his first free practice session in the world’s most competitive young gun series.

Lewis Hamilton (ASM F3): “An exhausting session as the track turned out to be extremely slippery. I believe that everybody has made his off-track experiences. I’m happy with my performance and we were successful when it came to improving the car’s set-up.”

Paul di Resta (Manor Motorsport): “At the beginning, my car wasn’t good, but we clearly improved it, during the course of the 60 minutes. At the end of the session I was happy with it. Maybe I could have been even faster. Yet, racing at the EuroSpeedway in wet conditions is extremely difficult as the track surface is very slippery, then.”

Guillaume Moreau (Signature): “My car was close to perfect, thus offering me the chance of setting very good lap times. I was even second in the test prior to the free practice session and I hope things will continue this way in the qualifying session, this afternoon.”